With the Washington Commanders owning the 16th position in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft, Commanders Wire begins a series of looking at the top five players at each position.
Pro Football Talk’s Chris Simms has begun his annual film study and evaluation of each position.
Today we learn Simms’ top-5 quarterbacks in the class of 2023. Interestingly enough, when it comes to the quarterbacks, Simms determined that two quarterbacks really should not be separated. Consequently, he has the two tied for the fifth spot.
“I want all these six guys to be in the top five because if somebody gets ranked sixth, they’ll get left out of the conversation,” explained Simms.
T5- Will Levis, Kentucky
“I am certainly in the reality that Will Levis could go in the top 10 to 12 picks in the draft. I totally get it.”
“To me, he has a little of the boom/bust factor here. The positives are his size, his toughness; it’s off the charts. You take his 10 best/20 best throws, and they are up there with anybody.”
“The problem is they are too few and far between. It’s just a little too all over the place. In the decision-making, he is towards the bottom of the list in that department too.”
T5- Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA
“He’s taller than Bryce Young. He’s faster than Bryce Young. I think his arm might be stronger than Bryce Young’s. He plays the position right up there with the top guys.”
He has a little bit of a long wind-up. He maybe doesn’t see the field as well as Stroud and Young and plays smaller than 6-foot-2. But damn, after that, I don’t know what else to say.”
“I would argue that going through reads and seeing the field, other than Stroud and Young, he’s the next best one of the group. Maybe even better than Hendon Hooker in that department.”
“I look at lists where there are 15 kids, and this kid is 13. And I am going, ‘What?’ This kid has starting quarterback NFL traits.”
4- Anthony Richardson, Florida
“Is there a little boom or bust with Anthony Richardson here? Of course. His ceiling is probably the highest ceiling in the draft. His floor, though, out of the guys we are talking about today, it might be the lowest floor too; it could be that.”
“But this is not like, oh, crazy raw, oh man you are really taking a chance.”
“There’s some games and some plays where his eyes are all over the place, and I’m not sure what he’s looking at. But then there’s other games where he is on the money.”
“You’re not going to want to rely on him like Hooker, Young, or Stroud, ‘Hey, we are looking to throw it 38 times today’. No, this is the guy, you get him on your team, and you are looking to throw it 24 times, and we want maybe 8 rushes from you.”
3- Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
“Why is this guy not getting more buzz? What is there not to like?
“Going off of the film is what I am doing. All I know is I saw a really good-looking, on-the-money- pocket-passing quarterback.”
“He makes great decisions and, like C.J. Stroud, is way more athletic than people are giving him credit for.”
“Even where he might be better than C.J. Stroud and definitely better than Bryce Young is his ability to see over the line and throw over the line. He had the most amount of throws with people in his face, and ‘I am just going to throw the 10-yard in cut over them’.”
“If you are going off of the film, I don’t know how he is not in the top quarterback conversation.”
2- Bryce Young, Alabama
“He’s as natural playing the position as you are going to see, he makes so many great quarterback plays.”
“Just like C.J. Stroud, the brain is on another level. Their ability to read defenses, see the field, throw the appropriate throw, knowing when to stop a guy or throw it over a linebacker, but get it down before the safety gets there.”
“For a guy that is a college quarterback he’s as slick as you’re ever gonna see, he’s a natural throwing the football.”
“He does fall into a routine of falling backwards as he throws, leaning back a little bit that can lead to the ball being a little off target.”
“When he gets hit sometimes it looks super aggressive because his body flies (referring to his smaller size).”
1- C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
“The film to me and everything I have seen, this is as close to Joe Burrow coming out in the draft I have seen.”
“C.J. Stroud’s ability to make high-level throws and just drop the ball in receivers pockets, hit them in the chest, wherever… it is off the charts good.”
“His arm is better than Burrow’s was coming out (for the draft).”
“His ability to power throw and put the ball into tight windows, time after time, I’d actually give him the advantage over Joe Burrow in that department.”
